surfing, jesus, and beautiful princesses

June 26, 2009

Have you ever wondered how the Scriptures came through history to land in your hands? Have you ever wondered how the Christians of the Day chose which books to include in the Bible? Here's the message for you!

Special thanks to Lifechurch.tv for developing this series. Pastor Craig and his team are awesome to compile such great resources, and share them with the whole of the Church. I have to admit, I can't preach with the same style: as many of you know, I get a little flowy and tell some stories :), but the research and media are much appreciated!!

Launching into this new series on The Bible, I wanted to share 5 foundational Scriptures that changed my life FOR-EV-ER!!

These are from the Navigators 2:7 Discipleship course. 5 Assurances that we get from God through His Word. Of course, there are hundreds of awesome things the Bible assures us of, but these 5 work together to build a solid foundation of faith in our lives. Here they are:

Assurance of Salvation: 1 John 5:11-12: “11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Assurance of Answered Prayer: John 16:24: “Until now, you have not asked for anything in my Name.Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

Assurance of Victory: 1Corinthians 10:13 “13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

Assurance of Forgiveness: 1John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness

Assurance of Guidance: Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

The key to unlocking the Truth in the Word is faith. If we simply look at the Bible as a book of good thoughts or just plain history, we won't receive the powerful revelation God intends for us to have. If we look at the Bible as "God trying to tell us something," and take every word as His word directly to us, it changes our lives forever!

The audio for this message is unavailable; but the rest of the series will be podcasted!

June 24, 2009

Launching into this new series on The Bible, I wanted to share 5 foundational Scriptures that changed my life FOR-EV-ER!!

These are from the Navigators 2:7 Discipleship course. 5 Assurances that we get from God through His Word. Of course, there are hundreds of awesome things the Bible assures us of, but these 5 work together to build a solid foundation of faith in our lives. Here they are:

Assurance of Salvation: 1 John 5:11-12: “11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Assurance of Answered Prayer: John 16:24: “Until now, you have not asked for anything in my Name.Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

Assurance of Victory: 1Corinthians 10:13 “13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

Assurance of Forgiveness: 1John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness

Assurance of Guidance: Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

The key to unlocking the Truth in the Word is faith. If we simply look at the Bible as a book of good thoughts or just plain history, we won't receive the powerful revelation God intends for us to have. If we look at the Bible as "God trying to tell us something," and take every word as His word directly to us, it changes our lives forever!

You can also give the message a listen under the "College Life Podcast" in the toolbar to the right on www.johnwyatt.cc!

June 22, 2009

We wrapped up our series "Practical Atheist" at College Life last week. We put a bow on it an put it under the tree. JK. :)

In this series, we have looked at how as Christians we can sometimes experience a difference between how we believe and how we live. This should not be! (Read James 1:22-25). We can get to the point where we are Christians in belief, but more like Atheists in practice. This series has illuminated lots of areas of my life that need a fresh evaluation. And from your feedback, it's helped you a ton, too!

Pastor Big John Scott took us out in style with a powerful message about how a practical atheist "Believes in God, but Does Not Know Him." Give it a listen on the College Life Podcast, linked over on the right side toolbar on www.johnwyatt.cc.

June 20, 2009

For a while, I've kinda focused my blog on personal and family stuff. Things like trips, kids, and achievements. Now, with Facebook way more functional, I'm changing the format of my blog here at johnwyatt.cc!

Facebook is the place where you'll find all things Wyatt from here on out. Carrie and I are both blessed with blackberries, so we can upload photos, status updates and such "from the field." And, the two-way interaction of social media is way better for staying in touch with all of you, too! So, to keep in touch with the Wyatt Tribe, become our friends on FB (John and Carrie) or Twitter (John and Carrie)!

Johnwyatt.cc is the place where I'll be posting more of the spiritual flow: messages I'm preaching, thoughts from my quiet times, discipleship stuff, ministry initiatives, etc. Especially as we build our global multi-site youth ministry at Celebration. It actually amazes me that I have anything to share in this area, but it's all Jesus! I want to be able to put stuff on the web that might bless any of you who are on the Journey with God. So, if you haven't already, just add my RSS feed, or your email addy in the feedburner!